Aske Tarev pushed away from the stack of chain-lashed crates. “All the better. You owe me a humiliation, you and the rest. And here you are, lumbering around like a rudderless scow. And without a sword for company. Couldn’t pass that up, could I?”

Sevaka pushed clear of Rosa and squinted at Aske. “Do I know you?”

“Allow me to present Aske Tarev,” said Rosa. “A bundle of pride and poor decisions.”

“Ohhhh. That one. The one who couldn’t beat Kas in a straight fight?” She straightened, or at least adopted a posture more vertical than diagonal. “Doesn’t matter. Two against one, isn’t it?”

“She’s armed, and we’re not.”

“Ah.”

Nonetheless, Rosa wasn’t especially concerned. She’d seen enough of Aske’s fighting style – or lack thereof – behind the Silverway. Wouldn’t take much to get the sword off her. The trick would be to stop Sevaka getting hurt along the way.

“And it’s not two against one.” Aske put her fingers to her lips and whistled.

Two hearthguards in Tarev crimson appeared from within the maze of crates. Between dress and drinking companion, Rosa had no hope of getting clear. The merchantman was too far behind to expect help from its crew; the Silverway too far ahead. To fight was certainly to lose, but lose what?

“Let Sevaka leave . . .”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Rosa ignored the protest and pressed on. “Let her leave, and I’ll stay.”

Aske drew her sword. “Sins of the kith. Her brother can’t pay, so she does. But I’ll make you an offer. Yield, and we’ll leave you here, bound and unharmed. Your clothes come with us, of course, or else there’s no humiliation.”

Sevaka stiffened. “And if we don’t yield?”

“Same thing. Only it’ll hurt more.”

Rosa closed her eyes and cursed. No choice in that. No choice at all. One thing to lose your dignity – quite another to hand it over. And she’d faced worse than Aske and her good-for-nothings. What could they do to her that the kernclaw had not? What could they take from her that had not already been lost?

Teeth bared in a snarl, she threw herself at the nearest hearthguard. He yelped and stumbled away, blade sweeping out in a panicked arc. Rosa lowered her shoulder beneath the steel and slammed him into a crate. His sword skittered away and vanished over the quayside. Rosa drove her fist into his face. The hearthguard screamed and went limp. She hit him again, just to be sure, and let the senseless body fall.

A shriek came from somewhere behind.

Rosa clambered to her feet and spun around. Sevaka stood against a crate, one hand clasped to a bloodied forearm. Aske and the remaining hearthguard – their backs to Rosa, and the latter with an equally bloodied nose – pressed in with swords drawn.